In traditional, Japanese martial arts, the defensive stance is considered the most effective one. Skilled Budo practitioners regard it as being more effective to apply a technique as a reaction to an attack rather than initiating an attack. In addition to this comes the attitude that Budo is intended as self defense. To initiate an attack would be inconsistent with the morals of Budo.

And Aikido certainly is a defensive Budo form created to be effective in actual combat. This defensive attitude towards fighting and the absence of competitions constitute the most marked differences between Aikido and other modern forms of Budo. The reason why Aikido refrain from competitions is that this would entail rules and restrictions which would reduce the techniques and their effectiveness. All such external restrictions of one’s movements are irreconcilable with Aikido. Furthermore, competition means that some will lose and some will win. One should not compete with, compare with or liken oneself to one’s peers in training. In Aikido one strives to act in accordance with one’s qualifications, and one should therefore strive only to become better in relation to oneself. The absence of competition makes Aikido accessible to everybody.

Aikido is not a static martial art; it constantly evolves through its practitioners. There are no actual rules in Aikido, and thus nothing is considered right or wrong as such, provided that the fundamental principles are respected. Even though people study under the same sensei, each person will benefit differently from the training. The differences in style among the teachers is a natural result of this. Each technique may also be done with slight variations from instructor to instructor depending on his or her size, strength and temperament, but also because each instructor continuously develops the techniques and thus focuses on different aspects of them.

In order to benefit the most from training it is necessary for beginners and experienced students alike to remain open to the training and in some sense to consider each class as if it were the first. It is not until you think you know the techniques that you run the risk of coming to a standstill. The more experienced one becomes, the more one realizes that there is much to revise. This attitude is a prerequisite for being able to continue to evolve. When we practice Aikido we most often do so in pairs in which you take turns to attack and defend. To begin with this is done in cooperation in order for people to learn the form and the principles of the technique in question, and it is not a question of winning or losing. The basic training most often consists of pre-determined techniques and attacks. It is not until you have learned the rudimentary principles of movements and techniques that you can move on to a more free form of training in which attacks and techniques become more spontaneous. Thus one reaches the highest level of effectiveness in the application of Aikido techniques.